Book Blog #83: Tracker by Gary Paulsen

Title: Tracker
Author: Gary Paulsen
# of Pages: 96 (paperback)
Genre: YA, Realistic Fiction, Adventure
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
Synopsis: For John Borne's family, hunting has nothing to do with sport or manliness. It's a matter of survival. Every fall John and his grandfather go off into the woods to shoot the deer that puts meat on the table over the long Minnesota winter.

But this year John's grandfather is dying, and John must hunt alone. John tracks a doe for two days, but as he closes in on his prey, he realizes he cannot shoot her. For John, the hunt is no longer about killing, but about life.

Review: What did I just read?

I've read two of Paulsen's works before, and I thoroughly enjoyed them, thus why I was so eager to start Tracker. While I was surprised how short the book was, I was expecting a good read.

If I could describe Tracker in one sentence, I would say that Tracker is about a boy who is distraught over his grandfather and has a sick obsession with a deer. There it is. You don't even have to read the book because there really is nothing to it. The ending is abrupt, and the whole plot is pointless. Am I missing something here? Is this a part of a bigger story? Because I think I just wasted an hour of my life.

No, I don't recommend this book.

Book Blog #31: Solider's Heart by Gary Paulsen

Title: Solider's Heart: Being the Story of the Enlistment and Due Service of the Boy Charley Goddard in the First Minnesota Volunteers
Author: Gary Paulsen
# of Pages: 128 (hardback)
Genre: YA, Historical Fiction, War
Rating: ★★★★☆
Synopsis: Charley goes to war a boy, and returns a changed man, crippled by what he has seen. In this captivating tale Paulsen vividly shows readers the turmoil of war through one boy's eyes and one boy's heart, and gives a voice to all the anonymous young men who fought in the Civil War.

Review: I didn't read this book in a very critical sense, just for fun.


It wasn't a fun book.

There were some pretty crazy details about what happens to the soldiers when they're in battle (and even after that). It's pretty amazing. But I was so sad at the end!

SPOILERS AHEAD

This review is really short for two reasons; the book's based off a true story and I can't even remember half of it.

I read while I was reading a whole bunch of other books, so I can't quiet remember what happened in the very beginning. But I do remember some of my favorite detailed scenes.

One of them was when Charley (our protagonist) drank some water that was dyed red from the blood in the dead bodies. Another was when Paulsen said there was a pile of amputated limbs stacked in a pile. And when Charley had to stack the bodies of the dead to form a wind barrier.

But, it's too short.

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